i have made that comparison. as between Apple Lossless and FLAC (using EAC), i found a slight edge to FLAC (in terms of resolution) -- but only when using a PC. When usuing a Mac (as i now do), the winner is Apple Lossless hands down. Don't ask me why there is a difference; imho, there just is. of course, Itunes beats the hell out of most everything else, including foobar, in terms of ease of use/interface.
To Wavelngth USB DAC users: Best ripping/playback?
I recently configured a computer music server using a Mac mini and a Wavelength Cosecant USB DAC. I use iTunes for ripping & playback. In iTunes I use Apple Lossless and select the error correction option.
I've read many posts on this site & Audioasylum about people jumping through hoops to use EAC to rip, then other software to compress and then playback with Foobar. I'm a bit skepitcal about these posts as most posters are using Windows and many of them are using the computer sound card instead of investing in a USB DAC.
So to all of you Wavelength users that have figured out that there are no shortcuts and you have to use a decent USB DAC for sound quality, has anyone done any A/B tests between Mac based iTunes (using Lossless & error correction) and a Windows based ripping/playback method?
I've read that we should expect a well configured computer music server to equal or better any CD transport/DAC combo. My results are very good, but my computer music server doesn't equal a world class CD transport such as the AMR CD-77 and I'm wondering if I need to consider my ripping/playback method.
Thanks in advance.
I've read many posts on this site & Audioasylum about people jumping through hoops to use EAC to rip, then other software to compress and then playback with Foobar. I'm a bit skepitcal about these posts as most posters are using Windows and many of them are using the computer sound card instead of investing in a USB DAC.
So to all of you Wavelength users that have figured out that there are no shortcuts and you have to use a decent USB DAC for sound quality, has anyone done any A/B tests between Mac based iTunes (using Lossless & error correction) and a Windows based ripping/playback method?
I've read that we should expect a well configured computer music server to equal or better any CD transport/DAC combo. My results are very good, but my computer music server doesn't equal a world class CD transport such as the AMR CD-77 and I'm wondering if I need to consider my ripping/playback method.
Thanks in advance.